Here is the dispatch for 17 October: The following members fixed 700 metres of new 8mm kernmantle static rope from camp 1 to camp 2, and left a deposit of gear in the red tower at 5900 metres: Tony Kinny, Chris Kinny, Camille Kinny, Bryan Bonser, Ryan Singleton, Larry Rigsby, and Daniel Mazur. They were accompanied by Tenzing Sherpa (makalu), Phurba Tamang, and Maya Sherpa. We were surprised by the poor condition of the ropes to camp 2 and were glad that our team is checking and replacing every centimeter of rope between camps 1 and the summit.

Jocelyn DuFour walked from basecamp to camp 1.

The following members walked from abc to camp 1: Brian Rolfson, Fred Strehlow, Ali Naderi, Kirsti Samson, and Jay Reilly.

John Fawcett walked to camp 1 with a load and returned to abc.

From Bryan Bonser: "Yesterday saw a great deal of progress for our team as well as others, with at least eleven climbers from the Mexico, Germany, Spain, and USA reaching the summit, and members of other teams pushing further on to Camps Two and Three. The effort by the first group was especially impressive, since they chose to skip camp two (our team will use camp two) and reached camp three late the night before. As we watched the light of their headlamps from far below in Camp One, many of us feared that they would not be able to safely reach camp 3 (having chosen to skip camp 2), and would be forced into spending the night out in the open, on the snow face they had been crossing. It was a powerful inspiration to see them again the next morning, making steady progress up the final ridge, temporarily disappearing as they reached the summit, and then returning safely to Camp Three in the afternoon." Congratulations!!

Thanks for staying with us, from all of us at SummitClimb.com